Load compartment covers for motor vehicles for covering a load compartment that lies behind a seat and is located within a passenger cabin are generally known. Load compartment covers of this type, in the case of a closed tailgate, offer a visual protection such that the interior of the load compartment cannot be seen from the outside, on the one hand, and are likewise pivotable simultaneously with the upward pivoting of the tailgate so as to expose the access to the load compartment once opened. On the other hand, in the case of an opened tailgate objects can be placed in the load compartment or can be retrieved therefrom without parts of the load compartment cover having to be manually removed or moved away. Moreover, a closed load compartment cover advantageously minimizes the transmission of undesirable noises from the load compartment, or from the rear region of the motor vehicle, respectively, to the passenger cabin and thus improves the NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) properties of said motor vehicle.
Load compartment covers of this type, by way of the front end region thereof, are usually mounted so as to be pivotable on the vehicle body, for example on lateral parts of the load compartment in the region of an upper edge of a rearward seat backrest. By way of the rear end region of said load compartment, covers are connected to the tailgate by one tape or traction cable that is attached on each side of the load compartment cover such that the tailgate, when upwardly pivoted in a rearward upward manner, likewise pivots the load compartment cover in an upward manner so as to on account thereof expose the access to the load compartment. Load compartment covers of this type for motor vehicles are disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2014 224 887 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,528,957 B2 (also DE 10 2012 210 964 A1).
A variant of a load compartment cover for a motor vehicle that is very similar to the above is furthermore shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,296 B2, wherein the load compartment cover here is additionally split into a front cover portion and a rear cover portion so as to enlarge the access region to the load compartment of the motor vehicle and, on account thereof, to simplify the introduction and retrieval of comparatively large objects into or out of the load compartment, respectively. The front cover portion of the load compartment cover is attached to the motor vehicle as has been described above. By contrast, the rear cover portion is fixedly connected to the tailgate such that said rear cover portion is completely moved conjointly with the tailgate and only in the closed state of the tailgate is contiguous to the front cover portion of the load compartment cover in such a manner that both portions form a single flat horizontal face.
A load compartment cover that in relation to a tailgate of a motor vehicle is rigidly connected to said tailgate is furthermore shown in JP 2003-2120 A. The load compartment cover is formed by a frame that erects a net. The fastening of the load compartment cover to the tailgate provides on each vehicle side of the tailgate in each case one stay which extends downward and is attached to the inside of the tailgate and has a free end that is configured in the shape of a hook. The free end is capable of releasably engaging in a clearance that is configured in a lateral part on the lower side of the frame of the load compartment cover. Pins which can be introduced into corresponding clearances of the tailgate are provided on the rearward part of the frame. In order for the load compartment cover to be released from the tailgate, the frame of the load compartment cover can be lifted out of the hooks of the lateral stays, and the pins can subsequently be pulled out of the receptacles of the tailgate.
A mechanism for the pivotable fastening of a load compartment cover for a motor vehicle to a tailgate of the motor vehicle in which the load compartment cover on an end portion that faces the tailgate of the motor vehicle is held so as to be pivotable on a pivot axis on the tailgate and at a forward portion is held on the vehicle body is shown, for example, in DE 196 04 214 A1, JP 2013-35380 A, and FR 2 819 459 A1. The load compartment cover, in the closed state of the tailgate, covers a load compartment of the motor vehicle that lies behind a vehicle seat and is located within a passenger cabin. When upwardly pivoting the tailgate in a rearward upward manner, the load compartment cover is likewise pivoted in a rearward upward manner so as to expose an access to the load compartment. In order for the load compartment cover in the opened state of the tailgate as a result of gravity not to hang vertically downward and not to impede the access to the load compartment, said load compartment cover, on account of the linkage at the front and on the vehicle body, is drawn at a certain angle counter to the vertical direction in the direction of the passenger cabin so as to enlarge the access region to the load compartment.
To this end, DE 196 04 214 A1 provides a force transmission means in the form of a rubber band which is elastic in the longitudinal extent of said force transmission means and which at one end is fastened to the vehicle body, in particular to the vehicle floor, and at the other end is fastened to the front portion of the load compartment cover. In order for the opening angle of the load compartment cover to be further enlarged, the rubber band along the profile thereof between the vehicle floor and the load compartment cover is deflected on a deflection means that is fastened to a rear side of a vehicle seat.
In the case of JP 2013-35380 A, the front portion of the load compartment cover, by means of force transmission means in the shape of cables, is fastened to a roof structure of the vehicle body. The force transmission means, in the case of an opened tailgate, pulls the front portion of the load compartment cover in the direction of the roof structure. The force transmission cables can be hooked into eyelets that are provided in the roof structure.
FR 2 819 459 A1 proposes that a cable-type force transmission means is fastened to the front portion of the load compartment cover and to a lateral wall portion of a vehicle body, wherein the force transmission cable is deflected on a loop-type deflection means that is fastened to the tailgate. The force transmission cable runs through said deflection means and said force transmission means, depending on the opening state of the tailgate being able to slide through said deflection means so as to pull the load compartment cover in the direction of the tailgate in the completely opened state of the tailgate. The pivotable linkage of the rearward portion of the load compartment cover provides a hook-and-eyelet connection, wherein a hook-shaped holding means, which runs in an arcuate manner and is fastened to the tailgate, engages in an opening of an eyelet that is provided on the load compartment cover. The eyelet opening during an upward pivoting movement of the tailgate first slides along the arcuate hook portion so as to enable a pivoting of the load compartment cover relative to the tailgate, so as to finally impact on a terminal detent of the hook that forms a form-fit with the eyelet in the case of a completely opened tailgate. In order for the hook-and-eyelet connection to be separated in a non-destructive manner, the front fastening of the load compartment cover on the vehicle body is released first, so as to be able to manually pivot the load compartment cover to a vertical position in the opened state of the tailgate, in which vertical position the eyelet can be pushed over and beyond the terminal detent of the hook.